Int J Biometeorol DOI 10.1007/s00484-017-1400-7 ORIGINAL PAPER Macro- and microclimate conditions may alter grapevine deacclimation: variation in thermal amplitude in two contrasting wine regions from North and South America Francisco Gonzalez Antivilo1 & Rosalía Cristina Paz2 & Markus Keller3 & Roberto Borgo4 & Jorge Tognetti5,6 & Fidel Roig Juñent1 Received: 21 April 2017 /Revised: 6 June 2017 /Accepted: 16 June 2017 # ISB 2017 Abstract Low temperature is a limiting factor that affects Because local information on meteorological events as prob- vineyard distribution globally. The level of cold hardiness able causes is scarce, this research was designed to test and acquired during the dormant season by Vitis sp. is crucial for study this assumption by comparing macro-, meso-, and mi- winter survival. Most research published on this topic has croclimatic data from Mendoza, Argentina, and eastern been generated beyond 40° N latitude, where daily mean tem- Washington, USA. The goal was to unveil why freezing dam- peratures may attain injurious levels during the dormant sea- age has occurred in both regions, despite the existence of large son resulting in significant damage to vines and buds. climatic differences. Because environmental parameters under Symptoms of cold injury have been identified in Mendoza field conditions may not correspond to data recorded by con- (32–35° S latitude), a Southern Hemisphere wine region char- ventional weather stations, sensors were installed in vineyards acterized by a high thermal amplitude, and warm winds during for comparison. Microclimatic conditions on grapevines were the dormant season. These symptoms have usually been at- also evaluated to assess the most vulnerable portions of field- tributed to drought and/or pathogens, but not to rapid grown grapevines. In order to better understand if it may be deacclimation followed by injurious low temperatures. possible to modify cold hardiness status in a short period with high thermal amplitude conditions, deacclimation was in- Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article duced using a thermal treatment. Hence, despite the fact that (doi:10.1007/s00484-017-1400-7) contains supplementary material, Mendoza is warmer, and temperatures are not as extreme as in which is available to authorized users. Washington, high daily thermal amplitude might be partially involved in plant deacclimation, leading to a differential cold * Francisco Gonzalez Antivilo [email protected] hardiness response. Keywords Cold hardiness . Deacclimation . Thermal 1 Laboratorio de Dendrocronología e Historia Ambiental, IANIGLA, amplitude . Grapevine . Mendoza . Washington state CCT-CONICET-Mendoza, Av. Ruiz Leal s/n, Parque Gral. San Martín,, PO Box 5500, CC 330 Mendoza, Argentina 2 CIGEOBIO (FCEFyN, UNSJ/CONICET), Av. Ignacio de la Roza 590 (Oeste), J5402DCS, Rivadavia, San Juan, Argentina Introduction 3 Department of Horticulture, Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center, Washington State University, Prosser, WA 99350, Climate affects the distribution of vineyards, resulting in lo- USA calization of the main areas of viticulture between 30 and 50° – 4 Cátedra de Fisiología Vegetal, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Nand30 40° S. These latitudes define areas corresponding Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Almirante Brown 500, Luján de approximately to isotherms between 10 and 20 °C. As a pe- Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina rennial temperate plant, the physiology of this climbing plant 5 Laboratorio de Fisiología Vegetal—Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, is adapted to a marked seasonality modulated by temperature. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Mar del Plata, Argentina Thus, warm conditions during the growing season (GS, spring 6 Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas de la Provincia de Buenos to autumn) are crucial for plant development and fruit produc- Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina tion, while during autumn-winter, the cessation of growth Int J Biometeorol leads to a dormant season (DS). During the DS, air tempera- located in maritime regions (e.g., New Zealand, Chile, ture usually falls below the freezing point, causing damages to Australia, and South Africa) with low incidence of freezing vulnerable tissues. This situation is one of the main causes of damage (Mullins et al. 1992). Therefore, there are scarce re- yield losses and/or plant death in grapevines (Fennell 2004). gional data concerning CH in this hemisphere, as regards Two factors, plant cold hardiness (CH) and temperature, vineyards or any other temperate fruit crops (Supplementary interact to determine tissue damage by freezing. Most research Fig. 1). Mendoza Province (MZA), the main grape producing has focused on CH, since this phenomenon constitutes a dy- region of Argentina, is an exception to this environmental namic and complex trait acquired in response to a shortening condition, as evidenced by a high level of continentality and photoperiod and declining temperature in autumn (Howell altitude (Table 1). and Shaulis 1980; Fuchigami et al. 1982; Wisniewski et al. Typical symptoms of cold injury include lack of and/or 1996). Three different stages are identified for CH: (i) accli- uneven bud break, death of canopy, under soil plant re- mation, when the plants gain CH; (ii) deacclimation, when the sprouting, and trunk cracking (Brusky Odneal 1983; plants lose CH; and (iii) re-acclimation, when the plants regain Goffinet 2004 ). In Mendoza, these symptoms have also been CH after temporary deacclimation (Levitt 1980). Rates of ac- observed but have been attributed to drought and pathogen climation and deacclimation vary dynamically during the DS, attack because freezing damage is not considered to be a crit- and are reversible (Dambrorská 1978; Wolf and Cook 1992; ical factor in vineyards. This occurs firstly, because there is Gu et al. 2002). CH is a reversible process; therefore, a cold little available information about the range of CH in grapevine hardy plant can deacclimate and then re-acclimate depending cultivars from local vineyards, which are usually extrapolated on temperatures. This process differs with species, cultivar, from studies conducted in the Northern Hemisphere. phenology, organ, weather (Xin and Browse 2000;Gusta Secondly, most of the microclimatic field conditions are esti- and Wisniewski 2013; Pagter and Arora 2013), and crop man- mated by extrapolation from data generated in CWS and not agement (Wample and Wolf 1996). from temperature sensors installed at a plant level. Finally, Temperature, the second factor, is a complex parameter and variability among years, in winter temperature, makes it diffi- is highly variable in time and space, affecting biological sys- cult to associate the dormant with the symptoms of cold dam- tems directly (Eagles 1989; Sage and Kubien 2007). This fac- age by producers and agronomist. tor can be considered at different spatial scales: macroclimate (a regional scale of tens to hundreds of kilometers), Table 1 Comparison of climatic and geographical condition between mesoclimate (a vineyard scale of tens to hundreds of meters), MZA and WA and microclimate (the specific environment around any plant) (Robinson 2006). Traditionally, the following limited number Item MZA WA of parameters has been measured to estimate thermal condi- Latitude (°) 32–35 S 46–49 N tion at the three mentioned scales: (i) maximum temperature asl (m) 766 117 (Tmax), (ii) minimum temperature (Tmin), (iii) daily mean Köppen-Geiger BW.k—arid, desert, BS.k—arid, steppe, temperature (Tmean), (iv) daily thermal amplitude (TA), and classification cold arid cold arid (v) relative humidity (RH). These parameters are traditionally Annual precipitation 213 204 obtained from conventional weather stations (CWS), which (mm) according to international standards consist in a white woody Pluvial regime Summer Winter shelter located at 1.4 m above the soil and sensors confined Annual temperature 16.4 12 mostly under the shield to protect them from the influence of average (°C) Sea of influence Pacific Pacific precipitation and direct radiation. Moreover, these stations are Range of influence Los Andes Cascade often located at a considerable distance from a vineyard. This Wind condition Lee Lee combination of elements often leads to under- or overestima- Mean altitude of range 4000 1300 tion of the real thermal environment to which a plant is sub- (m)* jected to which may result in misinterpretation and/or minimi- Width (km)* 150 70 zation of the influence of temperature on plant damage. Distances foothills to 20 130 In the Northern Hemisphere, most vineyards beyond 40° N vineyards (km) are affected by recurrent climatic contingencies due to freez- Continuity Continuous Discontinuous ing damage. This implies a direct impact on the growth man- Continentality index Continental climate Slightly continental (Ivanov) (165.3) climate (122.7) agement (Mills et al. 2006; Cragin et al. 2017;Hammanetal. Continentality index 26.9 10.6 1996; Fennell 2004; Keller and Mills 2007), and a permanent (Conrad; %) real-time monitoring and measurement of CH (http://wine. wsu.edu/research-extension/weather/cold-hardiness). On the Sources: Climatic-data.org, 2017; Google Earth, 2017 other hand, in the Southern Hemisphere, most vineyards are *measurement at the study region Int J Biometeorol MZA is located at the center-western side of the country corresponding to April–May in SH and October–November near the foothills of the Andes Range, whereas the wine grow- in NH, middle DS